Stress can certainly increase the symptoms of AS, it doesn't CAUSE AS, nor should our illness be referred to as stress induced because it is not. But Stress releases BAD hormones into the body that help increase inflammation etc, where as being happy and relaxed can release good hormones which make us feel better!  Reducing stress is really important, as well as eating right and getting light exercise.

But PLEASE do not let that confuse you or others around you into believing that stress causes this disease.  It does not. And it is hard to pin down whether the stress you are feeling is from outside stressors, or if it the stress of dealing with the disease that makes outside things seem harder to deal with.  It is a slippery slope.

Not sleeping well, or lack of sleep, is one of the biggest triggers for my pain.  Being tired leads to stress, stress leads to tension, tension equals pain.

Stress does effect my flare ups

Yes!!! Same here...I wish you can just turn off stress but when it hits my body , it's as if I'm being injected with a flare.

I agree with the others. This disease has many triggers that can cause flare ups or increased pain and other symptoms. Everyone is different on what the threshold is before the trigger starts escalating the symptoms. Due to the disease being so unique in every person the same goes for some of the triggers. Also the disease progression, timeline, what triggered it to become active etc are all things that differ. When it comes to stress it seems like its a more common or universal trigger, the threshold of the person varies as to when that makes things worse. I hope this helps.

Agree with others, stress can affect your AS.

I have to say yes as well. Stress sets off all kinds of reactions in our bodies and too much stress can weaken our immune systems. With AS the immune system is already messed up and I think thats why I get more flares when I am overly stressed.

YES!!  Stress is a big element of my flares,